Applied Anthropology Career Plan

On first approaching this assignment I had presumed that the information I was looking for would be found quite easily via internet searches, however after numerous, unfruitful hours of scouring the internet I realised that there was a complete lack of detailed information available for students like myself who are nearing the end of their undergraduate studies and who will possibly be hoping to apply for grad schools in the coming year. It also became apparent that both the ‘Anthropology Career Resources Handbook’ as well as the results of my various web searches were very American-centric with a biased focus geared towards American students applying to American grad schools with a major lack of graduate program information for Canadian universities. Furthermore, being English myself and hoping to return there on the completion of my undergraduate studies, I also searched for British universities specialising in applied anthropology programs, the results were only slightly more helpful. 

The following pages list three post secondary institutions that offer programs specialising in the field of applied anthropology or other related fields in the case of the third university.

Masters of Applied Anthropology (M.A.A) at the University of Maryland

The entire department of Anthropology at the University of Maryland (UMD) states that it has general focus and commitment to the applied aspect of anthropology and anthropological research, not only in the generation of anthropological knowledge but also its application. Additionally, the university also offers a Masters of Applied Anthropology (M.A.A.)  which it states is designed “both for students interested in an anthropology career outside of academia and for those who plan on continuing to a PhD” (University of Maryland: 2011). 

The program was first offered by UMD in 1984 and has continued for decades due to its long-standing success. According to the university’s website the program specifically focuses on the building of anthropological practice and the application of generated knowledge and theory. Prior to application, students are asked to identify the particular subdiscipline of anthropology in which they are interested as well as proposing a specific area of interest within that subdiscipline (University of Maryland: 2011).

The department offers a variety of courses as part of the requirements of the M.A.A program which are listed below;

ANTH 601: Applied Anthropology

ANTH 606: Qualitative Methods in Applied Anthropology

ANTH 760: Development of Social/Cultural Theory
ANTH 630: Quantification and Statistics in Applied Anthropology
ANTH 720: Advanced Studies in Theory and Practice of Applied Biological Anthropology
ANTH 740: Anthropological Theories of the Past
ANTH 701: Internship Preparation
ANTH789: Internship
ANTH712: Anthropology Internship Analysis 

In addition to the various courses, an internship is also required by the department in order to complete the program, along with coursework focusing on a specific area of specialization chosen by the student.

The official website for the university’s anthropology department does not specify by whom the MA courses are taught or which professors specialise applied anthropology. However, it does provide a list of all department faculty members along with minimal biographical information, particularly concerning their specific area of specialisation. After reviewing the faculty members and their areas of expertise I found department professors Dr. Thurka Sangaramoorthy and Dr. Erve Chambers’ areas of interest to appeal to me most. The biography for Dr. Sangaramoorthy lists her interests as “HIV/AIDS, social and medical constructions of risk, health disparities, global public health; transnationalism, immigration, citizenship, governmentality, structural violence, race and ethnicity; science and technology studies” (University of Maryland: 2011). In regards to this I am particularly interested in the areas of HIV/AIDS, health disparities and studies around nationalism and government. Dr. Chambers’ areas of interest are listed on the website as “applied anthropology, policy research, evaluation, tourism, housing and community development, cultural studies” (University of Maryland: 2011). It was his expertise in the area of applied anthropology that I found most appealing and relevant.

The above information was acquired from the University of Maryland’s program information webpage;
http://www.bsos.umd.edu/anth/Programs/Graduate/MAA.html

Masters (M.A) in Applied Anthropology & Community and Youth Work at Goldsmiths, University of London

Goldsmiths, University London offers a one year masters specialising in the application of anthropological skills and knowledge, particularly theory and research methods as applied to the field of community and youth work. The program is designed to combine the anthropological skill set and knowledge with a more practical skills to help students “enhance [their] effectiveness as a community and youth worker” (Goldsmiths, University of London: 2011). According to their website, this particular degree was unique in Britain as the first of its kind to combine both “academic and professional qualifications” (Goldsmiths, University of London: 2011).

The website offers very few details on the specific content of particular courses; it does however give a brief overview of the various areas of study and focus for the course and what will be expected of the student. The MA focuses primarily on combining theory and practice; hence it involves both academic lectures and coursework as well as completing a practicum in the field. A list of the faculty of the anthropology department can be found on the Goldsmiths, London University website, with brief bibliographical information on their particular areas of interest. It once again however does not offer any details on who teaches the specific courses. I reviewed the list of factulity members along with the biographical information and found two particular professors whose areas of expertise appealed to my interests. Dr. Casey High specialises in “History and memory; violence; indigenous rights and development; political anthropology; cosmology; gender; Latin America/Amazonia; Ecuador” (Goldsmiths, University of London: 2011). This appeals to me as the topic of human rights and particularly indigenous rights is one of my main areas of interest and an area I would like to pursue after completing my undergraduate studies. Additionally, I also have a great deal of interest in and attraction to working in Latin America. The second faculty member whose areas of interest appeal to me most was Dr. Sari Wastell whose expertise are cited as “Legal anthropology; social theory; war crimes prosecutions; post-conflict societies and 'transitional justice'; temporal idioms and time politics; African governance; The Hague, Bosnia, Swaziland and Euskadi “. It is the legal anthropology that most attracts me in this case since a knowledge of the judicial system paired with anthropology would be very useful when working in the area of human and indigenous rights.

The above information came from the department of anthropology on Goldsmith’s University London’s official website;
http://www.gold.ac.uk/pg/ma-applied-anthropology-community-youth-work/

Masters in Science (MSc) in Law, Anthropology and Society at London School of Economics

Although this course is not specifically an applied anthropology course it certainly has applied aspects; applying anthropological knowledge through the practice of law. The MSc in Law, Anthropology and Society program was developed by LSE primarily as a base for understand the role of law within the framework of society and culture and focuses primarily on the application of theoretical knowledge.

The department as a set of ‘core’ courses which are requirements for the programs, these courses are unlisted. However, the website does list the further optional courses a number of which are required to complete the program. The courses offered by the anthropology department are as follows; 

The Anthropology of Religion.
Anthropology: Theory and Ethnography.
The Anthropology of Kinship, Sex and Gender.
Anthropology of Politics.
Anthropology of Economy (1): production and exchange.
Anthropology of Economy (2): development, transformation and globalisation.
Children and Youth in Contemporary Ethnography.
Ethnography of a Selected Region (Latin America).
Medical Anthropology.

The courses offered by the law department are as follows;
Jurisprudence and Legal Theory.
Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Regulating New Medical Technologies.
Comparative Law: Theory and Practice.
Law and Social Theory.
Modern Legal History.
Crime and Control: The Ethnics and Political Economy of Criminalisation.
Current Issues in Intellectual and Cultural Property Law.
Trademark Law.
Cultural Property and Heritage Law.

While there are no specifics given as to which staff members teach any of the particular required courses for the programs, the universities website does offer a full of faculty members from both the department of law and the department of anthropology. Upon reviewing the anthropology faculty I found various members of staff who specialised in areas that are of interest to me, however I could not find any particular member of staff specialising in legal anthropology.

The above information was acquired from the official website for the London School of Economics and Political Science;
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/anthropology/degree_programmes/mscantlaw.aspx

Primary Choice of Post-Secondary Institution

Upon reviewing the websites and program details of the three post-secondary institutions, my first choice would be the Masters in Law, Anthropology and Society offered by the London School of Economics (LSE). There are numerous reasons as to why this university program would be my primary choice. Firstly, and focusing entirely on the academic aspect of my choice, since I am nearing the end of my undergraduate studies at UVIC I have been trying to discover my particular areas of interest and decide on which aspects of anthropology I would like to focus, both in regards to careers and further education. I understand that as a cultural anthropologist one has a more elusive, less tangible and less marketable set of skills than say an archaeologist or a forensic anthropologist. Thus, combining the cultural anthropology skill set with more concrete and practical skills, in this case an in-depth knowledge of the legal system, will endow me with a more unique set of employable skills which differ from holding an anthropology or law degree alone.

In addition to the academic aspect, there are also personal factors that influenced LSE as my primary choice. Firstly, I am a British citizen, so I would not have to pay foreign student fees for an already costly course. I was raised in England and lived there until I was twenty; it is where all my family and a majority of friends are. Although I have never lived in London or the south of England, I am very familiar with the city. Relocation there rather than one to the U.S or another part of Canada would make much more sense since I have family close by as well as numerous close friends who also reside in London and attended various post-secondary institutions in the city offering me a well established support network.

Program Details
LSE is not only home to a world famous centre of social sciences as well as a historic and distinguished department of anthropology which in the early days of the discipline became the leading school of British social anthropology under the guidance of Bronislaw Malinowski, it also has a long history of interdisciplinary approaches to theory and practice. It is precisely this interdisciplinary approach and collaboration between departments that most attracts me to both the university and the specific program. LSE states that it the MSc in Law, Anthropology and Society program was developed specifically to “provide a basis for understanding and analyzing the role of law in society” (LSE: 2011). The program primarily intends to develop both the theoretical and practical skills of the student in understanding the context of low within culture and society. The interdisciplinary nature of the course is intended to provide a more in-depth understanding of the detailed technicalities of the judicial system through using specific socio-cultural analytical skills fosters within the discipline of anthropology (LSE: 2011)

The one year MSc program is broken into four separate units of study; three academic lecture courses and a final dissertation project. The course is mainly focused around law within society which is a mandatory course to be done in conjunction with a choice of optional courses from both the department of law and the department of anthropology (as mentioned on pages 3 and 4) (LSE: 2011).

Shannon Turner-Riley
ANTH 311: Applied Anthropology
Instructor: Dr Heather Botting
October, 2011